Oral Cleaning Section

ABSTRACT

An oral cleaning section is disclosed. The oral cleaning section includes a first carrier having a cleaning side on which at least a first cleaning element is mounted and a second side opposite to the cleaning side, a second carrier having a cleaning side on which at least a second cleaning element is mounted, at least one aperture being formed in the first carrier such that the aperture extends from the cleaning side to the second side, with the second cleaning element extending through the aperture. The second carrier is arranged underneath the first carrier such that the cleaning side of the second carrier is underneath the second side of the first carrier and laterally extends beyond the aperture in at least a first direction. The first carrier and the second carrier are arranged for relative movement to each other.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to an oral cleaning section.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an oral cleaningsection that has a first carrier on which at least a first cleaningelement is mounted and a second carrier on which at least a secondcleaning element is mounted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. 2008/0307591 A1 discloses as an oral cleaning section a brushsection for use with an electric toothbrush. The brush section has abrush head portion that supports a first plurality of contact elementsand a movable contact element holder that supports a second plurality ofcontact elements. In some embodiments, multiple rows of the firstplurality of contact elements are separated by a row or rows of thesecond plurality of contact elements.

Each of the support structures must have a width that allows mounting ofthe contact elements without breaking or unduly deforming the supportstructures, which does not allow a high density of contact elementsperpendicular to the row direction, specifically when the rows ofcontact elements of the first and second plurality of contact elementsare alternately arranged.

Thus it is a desire to provide an oral cleaning section that enables ahigh density of first and second oral cleaning elements while allowingfor a relative movement of the first and second cleaning elementsrelative to each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an oral cleaning section is provided. The oralcleaning section includes a first carrier having a cleaning side onwhich at least a first cleaning element is mounted and a second sideopposite to the cleaning side; a second carrier having a cleaning sideon which at least a second cleaning element is mounted; at least oneaperture being formed in the first carrier such that the apertureextends from the cleaning side to the second side, with the secondcleaning element extending through the aperture. The second carrier isarranged underneath the first carrier such that the cleaning side of thesecond carrier is underneath the second side of the first carrier andlaterally extends beyond the aperture in at least a first direction. Thefirst carrier and the second carrier are arranged for relative movementto each other.

In another embodiment, an oral cleaning section is provided. The oralcleaning section includes a mounting structure and a second carrierhaving a cleaning side on which at least a cleaning element is mountedand a second side being opposite to the cleaning side, which second sideis exposed so that it can be brought into contact with tissue in an oralcavity.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of specific embodimentswill become evident to those skilled in the art from a reading of thepresent disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative in nature andnot intended to limit the invention defined by the claims The followingdetailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understoodwhen read in conjunction with the following drawings, where likestructure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1A is a side view onto an oral cleaning section as proposed that isrealized as a detachable brush head for an electric toothbrush;

FIG. 1B is a frontal view onto the cleaning side of the oral cleaningsection shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional cut through the oral cleaningsection shown in FIG. 1B along line A-A;

FIG. 3 is a frontal view onto the cleaning side of the head part of theoral cleaning section shown in FIG. 1B without mounted bristle tufts;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal cross sectional cut through a front section ofthe head part of the oral cleaning section as shown in FIG. 3 along lineB-B;

FIG. 5 is a staged cross sectional cut through the head part of the oralcleaning section as shown in FIG. 4 along line C-C; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view onto an oral cleaning device realized as anelectric toothbrush that comprises a detachable oral cleaning section asproposed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following text sets forth a broad description of numerous differentembodiments of the present disclosure. The description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. It will be understood that any feature,characteristic, component, composition, ingredient, product, step ormethodology described herein can be deleted, combined with orsubstituted for, in whole or part, any other feature, characteristic,component, composition, ingredient, product, step or methodologydescribed herein. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented,using either current technology or technology developed after the filingdate of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of theclaims. All publications and patents cited herein are incorporatedherein by reference.

According to the present disclosure, the oral cleaning section includesa first carrier that has a cleaning side on which at least a firstcleaning element is mounted and a second carrier having a cleaning sideon which at least a second cleaning element is mounted. At least oneaperture is provided in the first carrier. The second carrier isarranged underneath the first carrier with respect to the cleaning sideof the first carrier (i.e. the first and the second carrier are arrangedon top of each other such that the cleaning side of the first carrierdefines the outmost lying side of the arrangement that is intended forfacing an oral site to be cleaned). Further, the cleaning side of thesecond carrier laterally extends beyond the aperture, i.e. the secondcarrier overlaps with the first carrier at least in a lateral direction,which is enabled as the carriers (not only their mounting surfaces) arearranged underneath each other. The second cleaning element extendsthrough the aperture. The first carrier and the second carrier arearranged for relative movement to each other. As the first carrier andthe second carrier are arranged on top of each other this allows foroverlap in the wall thickness needed for mounting the first and thesecond cleaning elements on the first and second carrier, respectively.This leads to a higher cleaning element density in the formed cleaningelement field as the first and second cleaning elements can be broughtcloser together with the proposed arrangement than in an arrangement asknown from US 2008/0307591 A1. The first and/or the second cleaningelement or cleaning elements may be realized by bristles or by bristletufts, but this shall not mean that it should be excluded that cleaningelements can be realized as for examle. soft elastomeric cleaningstructures.

In an embodiment of the oral cleaning section, the first carrier and thesecond carrier are movably coupled to each other, for example, thesecond carrier can be supported by the first carrier so as to enable therelative movement in a low volume realization. In another embodiment ofthe oral cleaning section, the second carrier is arranged for anoscillatory wiping motion around a longitudinal axis that is essentiallyparallel to a longitudinal extension axis of the oral cleaning section.Thus, in operation, when the oral cleaning section extends into the oralcavity, the second cleaning element or the second cleaning elementsperform an oscillatory wiping motion similar to the wiping motion a userof a manual toothbrush would utilize to clean the teeth, without theneed for the user to have to move the oral cleaning section actively.

In a further embodiment of the oral cleaning section, the oral cleaningsection includes a coupling element for transferring motion induced by adrive to at least one of the first or second carrier. In an even furtherembodiment of the oral cleaning section, the first carrier is arrangedto at least partially envelope the second carrier. The first carrier maybe designed to house the second carrier in an internal cavity. Inparticular, the second carrier may have a second side that is exposed atthe back of the oral cleaning section such that it can be brought intocontact with tissue present in the oral cavity. The second side may havea texture, i.e. a roughness or structures suitable for cleaning thetongue.

In this respect, according to an aspect of the present disclosure, anoral cleaning section has a mounting structure and a second carrierhaving a cleaning side on which at least a cleaning element is mountedand a second side being opposite to the cleaning side, which second sideis exposed so that it can be brought into contact with tissue present inan oral cavity, for example, a tongue, where the second side may betextured.

In yet another embodiment of the oral cleaning section, at least a firstrow of first cleaning elements is mounted on the first carrier and atleast a second row of second cleaning elements is mounted on the secondcarrier, with the second row of second cleaning elements extendingthrough the aperture. Several apertures may be formed in the firstcarrier such that one of the several second rows of second cleaningelements extend through each one of the apertures and several first rowsof first cleaning elements may be mounted on the first carrier such thatthe first rows and the second rows are alternately arranged. In such anembodiment, a high density of cleaning elements in a directionperpendicular to the row extension direction can be achieved.

In an embodiment of the oral cleaning section, the distance between anouter edge of the first cleaning element and an outer edge of the secondcleaning element is less than about 1.6 mm, for example, less than about1.4 mm or less than about 1.2 mm and in particular the distance may bearound about 1.0 mm. This can only be achieved if the wall thicknessrequired for mounting overlaps, which is allowed because of the stackedarrangement of the first and second carriers.

In another embodiment of the oral cleaning section, a third carrierconcludes the oral cleaning section at a distal end (where the distalend is the end that lies away from a handle section of the oral cleaningdevice in an attached state, i.e. the proximal end of the cleaningsection is the end that is intended for coupling to the handle section),with the third carrier being fixedly connected with the second carrier.In such an arrangement, the third carrier would perform the samerelative motion to the first carrier as the second carrier, for example,an oscillatory wiping motion around a longitudinal axis. The specificarrangement of a carrier arranged so as to conclude the oral cleaningsection can be considered as a novelty in itself that is independentfrom the other features previously discussed. The respective carrier mayin particular be arranged for an oscillatory wiping motion around alongitudinal axis that is parallel to the longitudinal extension axis ofthe oral cleaning section.

The oral cleaning section may be realized as a replacement brush-headfor detachable connection to a handle section of a toothbrush, inparticular an electric toothbrush.

The present disclosure is further concerned with an oral cleaning device(such as an electric toothbrush or a manual toothbrush) in which an oralcleaning section as proposed is utilized. In case the oral cleaningdevice is realized as a manual toothbrush, the oral cleaning section maybe integral with a handle of the manual toothbrush. The oral cleaningdevice may comprise a handle section to which the oral cleaning sectionis detachably attached. In a manual toothbrush, provision may be madefor an actuator that can be used to move the second carrier. Referringnow to FIG. 1A is a side view onto an exemplary embodiment of an oralcleaning section 10. In the shown embodiment, the oral cleaning section10 is realized as a detachable brush head for detachable connection to ahandle section of an oral cleaning device (in FIG. 6 an exemplary oralcleaning device is shown that is realized as an electric toothbrush).The oral cleaning section 10 comprises a head part 100 and a tubularmounting structure 190. The head part 100 of the oral cleaning section10 comprises a cleaning element field 101 (here realized as a bristletuft field) that extends from the head part 100 essentially into adirection perpendicular to the longitudinal extension direction L of theoral cleaning section, as is usual in the art to enable effectivecleaning of an area in the oral cavity such as the teeth, the gums, themucosa, or the tongue surface. In another embodiment, the oral cleaningsection is integral with a handle section of an (battery-operated orrechargeable) electric toothbrush or a manual toothbrush.

The mounting structure 190 comprises a tube 191 that is slightly taperedtowards the head part 100 and is realized as being integral with a firstcarrier 110 of the head part 100 of the oral cleaning section 10. Thetube 191 has an opening 192 at the end distal to the head part 100 foraccommodating, for example, a driving shaft extending from the handlesection of the oral cleaning device and for detachably mounting the oralcleaning section to a handle section of an oral cleaning device.

The first carrier 110 has a cleaning side 113 on which first cleaningelements 111 (here realized as bristle tufts) are mounted, which firstcleaning elements 111 are part of the cleaning element field 101. Thefirst carrier 110 is an integral part of the oral cleaning section 10and can be manufactured, for example, by a single plastic injectionmoulding process together with the tube 191. The first cleaning elements111 may be considered as static cleaning elements of the oral cleaningsection 10 as they are fixed in relation to the mounting structure 190.When mounted onto the handle section of the oral cleaning device, thefirst carrier 110 may not be driven during operation but may remainstatic with respect to the tube 191 and the handle section. In anotherembodiment, the whole cleaning section 10 is additionally driven into amotion (e.g. a reciprocation oscillation in longitudinal extensiondirection L). The first cleaning elements 111 are then still fixed (i.e.static) with respect to the mounting structure 190.

The head part 100 further comprises a second carrier 120 that is amovably supported part of the oral cleaning section 10 (as will befurther discussed with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4). Second cleaningelements 121 (here also realized as bristle tufts) are mounted on thecleaning side of the second carrier 120, which second cleaning elements121 extend through apertures 130 formed in the first carrier 110 so thatthe second cleaning elements 121 are here also part of the cleaningelement field 101 and are arranged in close vicinity to the firstcleaning elements 111. The first and second cleaning elements 111 and121 form the cleaning element field 101 (here a bristle tuft field) asis known from brush heads of manual or electric toothbrushes. Whenattached to a handle section of an electric oral cleaning device, thesecond carrier 120 may be coupled to the drive shaft of the electricoral cleaning device. During operation the second carrier 120 would thenbe set into an arcuate oscillatory motion or oscillatory wiping motionor sweeping motion around a longitudinal axis that is essentiallyparallel to a longitudinal extension axis L of the oral cleaning section10. In operation, the second cleaning elements 121 will then moverelative to the first cleaning elements 111 (which will here remainstatic with respect to the mounting structure 190). Generally, the firstcarrier 110 and the second carrier 120 are arranged for relativemovement to each other, hence in another embodiment, the first carrierand the second carrier are both arranged for relative movement withrespect to each other and with respect to the mounting structure. Theoscillatory wiping motion of the second cleaning elements 121 around thelongitudinal axis is very similar to the motion a user would performwith a manual oral cleaning device, for example, a manual toothbrush.Hence, the shown embodiment of an oral cleaning section 10 as proposedsupports the feeling of a natural motion that may be preferred by someusers in contrast to other motions the brush head may perform.

The second carrier 120 has a second side 124 that extends through anopening in the backside of the head part 100 (i.e. the first carrier isdesigned in such a way that it covers the cleaning side of the secondcarrier 120 and also partially envelopes the second carrier 120—one maysay that the second carrier 120 is here partially housed in the firstcarrier 110—such that the second side 124 of the second carrier 120 isexposed). Hence, in operation not only the second cleaning elements 121move with respect to the mounting structure 191, also the second side124 of the second carrier 120 moves and thus provides a moving surfaceon the back side of the head part 100. This can be used to, for example,provide a tongue cleaner structure suitable to clean the tongue bymaking the second side 124 of the second carrier 120 textured (forexample, by making the second side 124 rough or by providing structureson the backside; the texture may be provide by a further material layer,for example, an elastomeric material, applied to the second side 124).

In the shown exemplary embodiment, the head part 100 further comprises athird carrier 150 concluding the distal end of the oral cleaning section10. The third carrier 150 has a cleaning side on which third cleaningelements 151 (here again realized as bristle tufts) are mounted. Theextension direction of the third cleaning elements 151 is somewhat(outwards) inclined with respect to the cleaning side of the oralcleaning section 10, whereas the extension direction of the first andsecond cleaning elements 111 and 121 is essentially normal to thecleaning side of the oral cleaning section 10. In the shown embodiment,the third carrier 150 is integral with the second carrier 120. Theprovision of such a movable carrier that concludes the distal end of theoral cleaning section and also performs an oscillatory wiping motionaround a longitudinal axis that is essentially parallel to thelongitudinal extension axis of the oral cleaning section 10 is anindependent novelty in itself and is further considered as an optionalfeature in the context of the present disclosure.

In case the first or second or third cleaning elements 111, 121, or 151,respectively, are realized as bristle tufts, they can be mounted to thefirst, second, or third carriers 110, 120, or 150, respectively, in amanner as is known in the art, e.g. via stapling (anchoring), anchorfree tufting (AFT), or an in-moulding process. Instead of bristle orbristle tufts, at least some of the cleaning elements could, forexample, be realized as soft and flexible elastomeric fingers formassaging and softly removing debris from oral tissue or as thin andflexible flaps for cleaning in the interdental cavities etc.

FIG. 1B is a frontal view onto the cleaning side 113 of the oralcleaning section 10 as shown in FIG. 1A. The same features as alreadyshown in FIG. 1A have the same reference numerals and reference is madeto the description above. In the frontal view it can be seen that thefirst cleaning elements 111 and the second cleaning elements 121 arearranged in alternating rows. The first cleaning elements 111 form firstrows 112 of first cleaning elements and the second cleaning elements 121form second rows 122 of second cleaning elements. Here, three first rows112, each having three double tufts, and three second rows 122, eachhaving two double tufts, are alternately arranged in longitudinaldirection. As shown here, the rows of cleaning elements may becentrically aligned in their rest position. Hence, during operationevery other row of cleaning elements is set into an arcuate oscillationthat occurs in a plane being essentially perpendicular to thelongitudinal extension axis of the oral cleaning section 10. The secondcleaning elements 121 extend through apertures 130 formed in the firstcarrier 110. The apertures 130 have a circumferential extension (herecircumferential is meant with respect to the longitudinal extension axisL indicated by the dash-dotted line drawn in FIG. 1B; the aperture 130needs not to be bent around the longitudinal extension axis) that islarge enough to allow for the arcuate oscillation of the second cleaningelements 121, but the axial extension (in the longitudinal extensionaxis L) is only about as wide as the axial extension (here the axialextension is the width of the second cleaning elements 121 in thelongitudinal extension direction) of the second cleaning elements 121(here realized as bristle tufts) to allow for a high density of thecleaning elements in longitudinal direction. In other words, theembodiment supports achieving a minimal distance between the first andsecond rows 112 and 122 in the longitudinal direction, which leads to ahigh density of cleaning elements in longitudinal direction; this willbe further discussed with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4). The achieveddensity of cleaning elements in longitudinal direction is higher thanthe density that could be achieved on first and second carriers that arearranged side by side instead of on top of each other, as the mountingof cleaning elements such as bristle tufts requires a certain wallthickness of carrier material between mounting cavities to avoid thematerial breaking (or deforming) during the mounting process (forexample, anchoring requires to have a wall thickness of about 0.8 mm ormore).

The present disclosure may have a first and a second carrier 110 and 120that are arranged on top of each other with respect to the extensiondirection of the cleaning elements such that the first and secondcarriers can move relatively to each other and can both laterally extendso that they overlap in at least a lateral direction. This allows for anoverlap of the required walls between the mounting cavities so that intotal a higher density of cleaning elements in longitudinal direction isachieved than with a side-by-side (non-overlapping) arrangement. It isto be noted that the shown embodiment is just exemplary. The basicfeature relating to an aspect of the proposed oral cleaning sectionrelies in the fact that a first carrier and a second carrier arearranged on top of each other (the first and second carriers therebylaterally overlapping). Only a single second cleaning element may bemounted on the cleaning side of the second carrier. The first and/orsecond cleaning elements may be arranged as individual elements, inrows, in arrays etc. The first and second cleaning elements may bearranged in alternating order or the second cleaning element or secondcleaning elements may extend through a single aperture formed in thefirst carrier or through several apertures formed in the first carrier.

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal cross sectional cut through the oralcleaning section 10 as shown in FIG. 1B along line A-A. The tube 191 ofthe mounting structure 190 is essentially hollow and accommodates asleeve 180 for clamping the oral cleaning section 10 onto a mount of ahandle section of an oral cleaning device and a coupling element 170 forcoupling the drive shaft of the oral cleaning device to the movablysupported second carrier 120. The mount and the shaft of the handlesection of the oral cleaning device are inserted into the hollow tube191 through opening 192. The coupling element 170 comprises a snap-fithook 171 having a substantially V-like nose that snaps into asubstantially V-like groove formed in the shaft of the drive shaft toestablish a detachable connection of the coupling element 170 and theshaft. Such a snap-hook fit is described in EP 0 500 537 B1, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The sleeve 180has a spring-like element that clamps onto the mount. The details of thesleeve 180 and of the coupling insert 170 are in more detail explainedin U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,042 and EP 1 023 001 B1, the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

The coupling element 170 is coupled to the second carrier 120 via acoupling shaft 163, which coupling shaft 163 transfers a motion inducedthrough the drive shaft of the oral cleaning device onto the couplingelement 170 to the second carrier 120, so that an oscillatory wipingmotion of the second carrier 120 essentially around a longitudinal axisW defined by the first and second bearing shafts 161 and 162 is effectedduring operation. The longitudinal axis W defined by the first andsecond bearing shafts 161 and 162 is essentially parallel to thelongitudinal extension axis L of the oral cleaning section 10. In theshown exemplary embodiment, the second carrier 120 is integral with thethird carrier 150, which third carrier 150 is hence also performing saidoscillatory wiping motion during operation. The third carrier 150 ismovably supported at the first carrier 110 via the second bearing shaft162. As discussed above, the second cleaning elements 121 that aremounted on the cleaning side 123 of the second carrier 120 extendthrough apertures 130 formed in the first carrier 110 and thus form ahigh density cleaning element field together with the first cleaningelements 111 mounted on the cleaning side 113 (see FIG. 1A) of the firstcarrier 110 in close vicinity of the apertures 130. In the shownexample, also the third cleaning elements 151 mounted on the cleaningside of the third carrier 150 are members of the cleaning elementsfield.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 it can be seen that the second carrier120 is arranged underneath the first carrier 110, i.e. the cleaning side123 of the second carrier 120 is positioned underneath the second side114 (being opposite to the cleaning side of the first carrier) of thefirst carrier 110, thus allowing for a lateral overlap of the first andsecond carriers 110 and 120.

FIG. 3 shows a frontal view onto the cleaning side 113 of a “naked” headpart 100′ of the oral care section as was shown in FIG. 1B, but hereshown without mounted cleaning elements. Thus, first mounting holes 119for mounting of the first cleaning elements are visible in the firstcarrier 110, second mounting holes 129 for mounting the second cleaningelements are visible in the second carrier 120 through the apertures 130formed in the first carrier 110, and third mounting holes 159 formounting of the third cleaning elements are visible in the third carrier150. The first mounting holes 119 and the second mounting holes 129 arerealized as double tuft holes with a recessed bridge wall to enhance thedensity of cleaning elements in the row direction. Mounting holessubdivided into multiple segments are described in EP 1 138 222 B1, thecontent of which is included herein by way of reference. The verticaldistance dl (which is the distance between the mounting holes measuredin a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal extension axis thatcoincides with line B-B) between the double holes is here about 0.8 mm,which is required to ensure e.g. secure stapling of bristle tuftswithout the risk to break or strongly deform the intermediate walls. Thetotal longitudinal distance d between the rows of cleaning elements ishere about 1 mm due to a wall thickness of about 0.8 mm between thefirst mounting holes 119 and the wall of the apertures 130 and a smalldistance of about 0.2 mm between the second mounting holes 129 and theaperture walls (the latter distance allowing for a slight widening of,for example, bristle tufts that extend through the apertures 130).

In case the second carrier 120 would be arranged side-by-side with thefirst carrier 110 (whether the carriers would be arranged at the sameheight or one of the carriers being somewhat recessed), the minimal wallthickness of about 0.8 mm required for the second carrier would add tothe wall thickness of about 0.8 mm required for the first carrier, sothat a distance of at least about 1.6 mm would result between the rowsof cleaning elements. A side-by-side arrangement of a first carrier anda second carrier is described in EP 2 107 892 A1, the content of whichis included herein by way of reference. Hence, the proposed arrangementof second carrier 120 arranged underneath the first carrier 110 allowsto increase the density of cleaning elements in the direction that isperpendicular to the row direction. The distance d between a row offirst cleaning elements and a row of second cleaning elements can hencebe made less than about 1.6 mm, the distance d can be made less thanabout 1.4 mm, less than about 1.2 mm and the distance d can be made tolie in the range of about 0.8-1.0 mm. In general, the distance betweencleaning elements arranged on the first carrier and cleaning elementsarranged on the second carrier can be made about as small as thedistance between two cleaning elements arranged on only one of the twocarriers due to the allowed lateral overlap between the first and secondcarriers arranged on top of each other.

FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal cross sectional cut through a front sectionof the “naked” head part 100′ as shown in FIG. 3 along the line B-B asindicated in FIG. 3. The second carrier 120 is movably supported at thefirst carrier 110 of the oral cleaning section via the first bearingshaft 161 and the second bearing shaft 162. The front part of the firstbearing shaft 161 is secured to the second carrier 120. The secondbearing shaft 162 extends in longitudinal direction and is secured tothe third carrier 150 and is loosely extending into a bore formed in thefirst carrier 110 so that the second carrier 120 (and the third carrier150 being integral with the second carrier 120) can pivot around thelongitudinal axis W defined by the first bearing shaft 161 and thesecond bearing shaft 162. As the cross sectional cut goes through thewalls between the second mounting holes, the second mounting holes arenot visible. The cut goes also through the recessed bridge walls of thefirst mounting holes so that the first mounting holes are also notvisible. A third mounting hole 159 is visible in this cross-sectionalcut. Further, the apertures 130 are visible. In the mounted state, thesecond cleaning elements 121 extend through the apertures 130 as isshown in FIG. 2. The second carrier 120 has a second side 124 that isexposed at the back side of the head part. The second side 124 may betextured, for example, may be provided with a pattern of elastomericelements suitable for tongue cleaning as is generally known in the art.As can be seen, the cleaning side 123 of the second carrier 120laterally extends (here: in longitudinal direction) underneath thesecond side 114 of the first carrier 110 so that the first and secondcarriers 110 and 120 overlap in longitudinal direction.

FIG. 5 shows a stepped cross sectional cut through the head part of theoral cleaning section along line C-C as indicated in FIG. 4. Line C-C isstepped so that the cut goes through the first mounting holes 119 andthe second mounting holes 129. The second carrier 120 is partiallyenveloped (i.e. enclosed) by the first carrier 110. The second side 124of the second carrier 120 is exposed at the back side of the head partso that it can be brought into contact with tissue present in the oralcavity, e.g. the tongue. In another embodiment, the first carrier isfully enveloping the second carrier (i.e. the second carrier is fullyhoused inside the first carrier without the second side of the secondcarrier being exposed). FIG. 6 shows an oral cleaning device 1 realizedas an electric toothbrush comprising a handle section 20 and an oralcleaning section 10 as proposed realized as a detachable brush head.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm”.

Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or relatedpatent or application, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation ofany document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect toany invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in anycombination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests ordiscloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning ordefinition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shallgovern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An oral cleaning section comprising: a head part including a first carrier and a second carrier; and a mounting structure; wherein the first carrier has a cleaning side on which at least a first cleaning element is mounted and a second side opposite to the cleaning side; wherein the second carrier has a cleaning side on which at least a second cleaning element is mounted and a second side opposite to the cleaning side; wherein at least one aperture being formed in the first carrier such that the aperture extends from the cleaning side to the second side, with the second cleaning element extending through the aperture; wherein the second carrier is arranged underneath the first carrier such that the cleaning side of the second carrier is underneath the second side of the first carrier; wherein the second side of the second carrier extends through an opening in the head part so that it can be brought into contact with tissue in the oral cavity; and wherein the first carrier and the second carrier are arranged for relative movement to each other.
 2. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein the first carrier and the second carrier are movably coupled to each other.
 3. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, further comprising a coupling element for transferring a motion induced by a drive to at least one of the first carrier or the second carrier.
 4. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein the second carrier is arranged for an oscillatory wiping motion around a longitudinal axis (W) that is essentially parallel to a longitudinal extension axis (L) of the oral cleaning section.
 5. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second cleaning elements is a bristle or a bristle tuft.
 6. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein the second side of the second carrier is textured.
 7. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein at least a first row of first cleaning elements is mounted on the first carrier and at least a second row of second cleaning elements is mounted on the second carrier and the second row of second cleaning elements extends through the aperture.
 8. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein a distance (d) between an outer edge of the first cleaning element and an outer edge of the second cleaning element is less than about 1.6 mm.
 9. The oral cleaning section according to claim 1, wherein the oral cleaning section is a replacement brush head for detachable connection to a handle section of a toothbrush.
 10. The oral cleaning section of claim 1, wherein the first carrier has at least two apertures and at least two second rows of second cleaning elements are mounted on the second carrier and each of the second rows of second cleaning elements extends through one of the two apertures.
 11. An oral cleaning device comprising an oral cleaning section according to claim
 1. 12. The oral cleaning device according to claim 11 that further comprises a handle section to which the oral cleaning section is detachably connected.
 13. The oral cleaning device according to claim 11, wherein the device is an electric toothbrush. 